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Cultural treasure meets high tech: The Golden Letter from Myanmar as a 3D scan

Cultural treasure meets high tech: The Golden Letter from Myanmar as a 3D scan

11.11.2013 - Press release

A precious artefact is, for the first time ever, to be presented to the press at the Federal Foreign Office on 12 November 2013 as an elaborate 3D scan: the Golden Letter sent by King Alaungphaya of Burma to George II, King of Britain and Elector of Hanover in 1756. Today the original is kept at the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Library in Hanover.

Cornelia Pieper, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, has issued the following statement ahead of the presentation:

Cultural and media relations with Myanmar have developed unprecedented momentum since the signing of a bilateral cultural agreement in July. The second media training course is currently taking place. The Golden Letter cultural preservation project lends the agreement further substance. The next step is the opening of the Goethe-Institut in Rangoon, just in time for the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations next year.

The Golden Letter bears witness to a diplomatic offer which, however, was unsuccessful at the time. Today this artefact is building bridges between Myanmar and Germany.

Ten young journalists from Myanmar, who are attending a media training course in Berlin with the help of the Federal Foreign Office, are reporting on this key cultural preservation project.

Further information:

The historic document was digitised in 3D with the support of the Federal Foreign Office and the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Library. This innovative technology makes it possible to produce 3D projections of the digital model – on a screen, in the middle of a room, behind glass – as well as facsimiles and print-outs.